How to Train a German Shepherd to Attack on Command

Attacking is one of the basic commands that your German Shepherd needs to learn early. In this article, I will show you how to train a German Shepherd to Attack on command.

German Shepherd is An Attack Dog

German Shepherd, by nature, exhibits aggressive traits. You don’t need to tell him, your dog has already known how to attack. The problem is how to train him to attack on commands? How to control such aggressive behaviors so your dog won’t harm you or himself?

Training German Shepherd to Attack

Step 1- Developing Bond

The first thing you need to do is developing a bond between you and your German Shepherd. How to develop that bond? You need to bring your dog close to you. There are so many ways you can bring him close to you, for example:

Placing your dog’s crate in the place where you spend your activities the most such as living room or bedroom.

Bring your dog to walk together with you often.

Give your dog some treats when it’s doing something good.

Play with your dog for mere 20 to 30 minutes a day.

Never angry with your dog when he is doing something bad, just ignore your dog bad’s attitude.

This phase can take 1 or 2 months. You should start developing bond early when your dog is still a puppy.

Step 2 – Prepare First

Before teaching your dog how to attack, you need to prepare first. You should wear protective bite bar sleeve that covers your entire arms. This is necessary to protect yourself from any injury. I would recommend “all around bite bar sleeve”, the cost is around $169.

All Around Bite Bar Sleeve

Step 3 – Teach Your Dog Few Simple Commands

Before you train your German Shepherd to attack, you should teach your dog few basic simple commands like come, sit, stop and stand.

Step 4 – Tell Your Dog to Attack

Now after your dog learn how to sit, tell him to sit. Then tap your dog’s face with the gloves. Keep tap your dog in the face until he attacks the gloves in anger. By the time your dog attacks the glove, shout out the word “attack” loudly.

Step 5 – Reward Your Dog

Reward your dog by giving him some cookies or treats. Repeat step 4 and 5 again for a week or two. This is necessary to help your dog associate the word “attack” with the action of attack.

After a week or two try to stand from a short distance away and shout attack loudly. If your dog attacks the gloves, you are successful.

How to Train Your German Shepherd to Attack on Command

Now after your dog learns the meaning of “attack”, it’s the time for your German Shepherd to learn to attack on command.

You need to get a big doll and place it at a distance. Then shout “attack” loudly and point your finger towards the doll. Your dog might be confused in the beginning and attacks your arm instead of the doll. You should repeat this step over and over again until your dog attacks the doll. Once your dog attacks the doll, reward him with a compliment and some of his favorite treats.

Now, change the doll at a different location. Shout the “attack” command again, and point your finger to the doll. Repeat the previous step until you are sure that your dog understands the “attack” command. Don’t forget to give him a treat and compliment.

Train Your German Shepherd to Attack Person

Now, this is the hardest part: we need to train your dog to attack a person. To train your dog to attack a person, you will introduce new command “stop”. As you might guess, “stop” command is used to stop him from continuing attack.

Before we start the training, you need to get one more person. This person will act as a replacement for the big doll. I know how hard it is to convince someone to act as your guinea pig. I remember when I need a whole week to convince my cousin this is perfectly safe.

So if you can’t find someone to help you, you can always ask for help from one of your local dog trainers. Not only they know how to protect themselves in case everything goes wrong, but they can also help you train your dog better.

After you find someone to help you, you just need to repeat the same step, just like when you use the big doll. But now, instead of point your finger towards the big doll, you point your finger towards the person. Don’t forget to make sure that person wears the complete protective device (professional dog bite suit is recommended).

Professional Dog Bite Suite

When your dog runs to attack that person, shout the word “stop” loudly and see whether your dog obeys your command or not. It’s a good idea to ask that person to stay near the door entrance. If something goes wrong and the dog doesn’t obey your “stop” command, he can shut the door quickly. Repeat the same step over and over again, until your dog understands that “attack” and “stop” commands perfectly.